Artists beginning with Z

Frank Zappa/Ensemble Modern The Yellow Shark (1993) When Germany's Ensemble Modern prepared to play The Yellow Shark, they went beyond the call of duty, taking unpaid holiday time to rehearse with Zappa, as the (dying) composer "put the eyebrows" on the music. The album is a posthumous tribute to Zappa's lifelong commitment to "putting little black dots on music paper".

Joe Zawinul Faces & Places (2002) You can't summarise Zawinul in any recording, let alone one but this studio album, made in his 70th year, shows his restless creativity and energy as well as any. Tracks such as Borges Buenos Aires and Rooftops of Vienna feature a cast of fabulous musicians. It's world music, in a world Zawinul made his own.

The Zombies Odessey and Oracle (1968) The Zombies' only album its title misspelt thanks to a lazy sleeve designer is a gorgeous monument to late-60s pop. Starting with a glorious letter-in-song to a lover in jail and a story about a girl no one loves, it features beautiful vocal harmonies; the songs shine with style and bristle with lyrical substance.

John Zorn The Big Gundown (1984) The jazz-punk maverick pays tribute to and mercilessly trashes the music of Ennio Morricone. Zorn handles his guest musicians like a film director, drafting in Toots Thielemans for some plangent harmonica, Big John Hammond for funky Hammond organ duties and some suitably maverick vocalists (Diamanda Galas and Mike Patton).

ZZ Top Tres Hombres (1973) The hit years in the 80s were dark years for ZZ Top fans, distraught at the band shedding the Texas boogie of their early albums. Tres Hombres was the best of those: crackling with spice and vivid songwriting, but with real rock punch, too.